Aelita
by Jo The Mage of Breath
Summary: (An AU Fanfic based off Stephen King's "Carrie". Rated T For some language and blood.) An outcast tormented by her peers and technology obsessed father, the one thing Aelita Stones takes comfort in is a computer program named XANA. Aelita quickly learns that she is not like other girls, and she secretly decides to find out her true origins.
1. 1- Out Of Power

"You sure this is the right place?" A woman spoke while she was in the passenger's seat of an older vehicle.

"It's the only house here for miles." A man was now talking. "He's got to be here."

The car was parked near a large stack of firewood leaning on a shed. The man was the first to exit, then he proceeded to get the door for his colleague. The only tracks that were visible in the snow were their footprints and the pattern of the tires. The woman had her red hair neatly tucked into a French twist, while the man beside her was wearing a plain black beanie to keep his bald head warm. The two suited adults headed towards the two story home with an air of confidence.

The door began to slowly creak open, and the two looked down to find a nervous looking girl with pink hair, possibly aged around four or five. "H-Hello?"

"Why hello there," The two tried to make themselves look friendly in order not to scare her. "Is Mr. Waldo Schaeffer home?"

The girl looked behind her towards the stairs, then looking back up and shaking her head. "Daddy isn't seeing anyone right now."

"'Daddy'?" The man repeated what she just said. The female beside him seemed just as taken aback as he was.

"Waldo never told us he had a daughter!" The woman put on a happy face. She knelt down so that they could be meet eye to eye and extended her hand. "My name is Wendy, and this is my partner Lawrence. What's your name, little one?"

"A-Aelita..." She stuttered slightly, taking Wendy's hand pensively.

"That's a pretty name." Wendy complimented. "Do you mind if we come in for a minute?"

Once again, Aelita looked upstairs and back up to the two adults. She shook her head. "Daddy said not to let anyone in."

"Not even for a short visit?" Lawrence asked.

"Nuh-uh."

"I assure you that our stay won't be too long." Lawrence tried to convince Aelita. "Just a few words with your father and we'll be out of your way."

Aelita bit her lip and looked down. She was scared of what her father would do, but she seemed more frightened by what _wouldn't_ happen. She finally gave in and opened the door wide open for them. Once she was sure the two were inside, she closed and locked the entrance behind them. Aelita retreated into the kitchen to grab a white cup with an elephant on it.

"Daddy's upstairs." Aelita pointed to the wooden staircase.

"Thank you." Lawrence nodded and went upstairs while Wendy decided to keep the little girl company. Aelita had just got done refilling her cup before returning to her puzzles.

"Do you mind if I sat here?" Wendy grabbed the chair beside her. There was a table parallel to the oven and cupboards. Aelita nodded in approval as the adult observed her writing. Wendy was expecting coloring books or maybe even a little tea party, but no. There were things like crossword puzzles and word scrambles in its place. On the table parallel to the oven and cupboards, there were different word puzzles strewn about with different colored pencils. Wendy found it awfully strange that a girl of Aelita's age was spelling words beyond normal reading comprehension.

Soon, the pinkette's attention would be drawn to something else entirely. Aelita seemed to be staring at Wendy for some unknown reason. She finally pointed at her after what seemed like forever.

"What are those?"

"Hm?" Wendy looked to where Aelita was pointing at, making her slightly embarrassed. The white, form fitting ruffled shirt she had on was exposing some cleavage. "Oh, breasts."

"I wish I had some..." Aelita looked down into her cup.

Wendy chuckled lightheartedly despite the awkward turn the conversation went. "Don't worry, in a few years you'll have a pair of your own."

The little pink haired girl looked disappointed. "No I won't. Daddy says I don't need that extension."

"Extension?" The woman asked. "Sweetheart, what are you talking about?"

"Daddy likes to fix me with patches and extensions."

Wendy gave her a perplexed look. "What do you mean by _fix_?"

"Aelita!" A man wearing tinted glasses with dull brown hair and a matching facial hair came upstairs from upstairs. Lawrence closely followed Waldo. Aelita instinctively hid behind Wendy. "I thought I told you not to let anyone in!"

"Please, it's not her fault," Wendy tried to reassure him, holding Aelita close. "We just really needed to see you-"

"You weren't answering your phone, and we hoped we might be able to contact you in person-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Waldo exclaimed. "I already told you people that I'm not going back to that project!"

"This isn't about that." Lawrence told him firmly. "This is about your wife."

Waldo's eyes widened. His glance shifted from the two suits and his daughter. He felt his mouth suddenly grow dry. A lump grew in his throat.

"She hasn't reported to work in two years." Lawrence continued. "We were able to buy that she went missing based on your account. But now..."

"Where is she, Waldo?" Wendy spoke up impulsively. "Where is Anthea Schaeffer?"

Waldo's rough hands had now become fists.

"There's something you're not telling us, Waldo." Lawrence proceeded to prod the older man. "The evidence we gathered and the story you told us aren't adding up."

Waldo lowered his head. Aelita's eyes had a forlorn color to them now. She was trying to make sense of everything going on around her. She was at a loss.

"Now, if you would like to explain yourself and clarify a few things, we-"

"Get out." Waldo softly mumbled.

A deafening silence grew over the four.

"...What?"

"GET OUT!" Waldo exploded. He rushed over to Aelita and held a tight grip of her wrist. "You will get out and stay out! NOW!"

"Daddy, you're hurting me!" Aelita tried to break free.

"Waldo, you're being completely irrational!" Wendy fought. "Just come with us and-"

"NO!" Waldo continued to yell. "You two will leave at once... and you!"

Aelita's face was held up by Waldo's other hand. "You're going in the scanner."

Aelita's eyes had tears coming out of them. "No, No! Daddy, no!"

"Waldo, enough of this!" Lawrence tried to break the two apart. He was met with a punch to the face. Afterwards, he began to force the two out of his home, while still having his daughter close by. She was now crying and thrashing about.

"I'm not telling you _anything_." Waldo breathed out.

Before the two could get another word out, Waldo slammed the door in their faces. The two looked at each other in hopes that one of them could piece together what just happened. The two could still hear the poor girl's cries from the outside. Their hearts ached for the child. Wendy and Lawrence knew what they had to do in order to try and keep her safe.

Just as they were about to leave, they turned around and saw the lights completely go out through the windows; even the porch lights went dead. Not even the light hanging above the shed was safe. Wendy and Lawrence simply shrugged it off as pure coincidence, more concerned about reporting Waldo Schaeffer's strange behavior back to the company.

It had been eight years since that close encounter in Switzerland. Waldo and Aelita moved from Switzerland to France within that time period, where Waldo held a teaching career at Kadic Academy for some time. Waldo had also changed his last name to Franz Stones, in reference to his grandmother's maiden name. However, a string of peculiar events resulted in Mr. Stones being fired from his position and his daughter being placed in as a day student. One of these events involved indoctrinating his students into a sort of technology based religion. It was nerve wracking enough to be the new girl in a school that was in another country; it was another story with rumors about Franz Stones still lingering and the memory of his actions within public memory. Aelita certainly wasn't doing anyone any favors with how inept she was to social cues and topics. As far as academics were concerned, however, she was one of the brightest minds in the whole school. If only brains could transfer over into popularity points.

Aelita had only been at Kadic for roughly two years, yet the taunting and teasing from her classmates felt eternal. What she didn't anticipate was how it would escalate starting today.

Today, it was boys versus girls in a game of football. Jim Morales, of course, was coaching the boys while the girls were left with Ms. Keningston. The regular female gym teacher was currently on maternity leave, so Ms. Rachel Keningston offered to fill in for her while she stayed at home with the new bouncing baby boy. While she was by no means an Olympic athlete, Rachel performed her new duties well and even joined in the workouts on occasion. In the left goal post, Aelita Stones stood with one hand gripping her arm across her body. She decided to follow the advice of her female classmates and just stay out of the way so it would be an easy win.

Apparently she wasn't the only one being singled out by her team. A glasses-wearing blonde haired boy was also kept at a distance from his team, but was seemingly doing a better job at making it look like he was helping. Everyone else was having a good time with jokingly trash talking each other and making the other team slip up at times. Aelita would jump at any instance the ball came even slightly towards her, causing annoyance in her team as the boys were gaining a lead.

" _Come on_ , Aelita!" One voice nagged. "Don't make us lose again!"

"S-sorry..." Aelita mumbled. She was never good at sports, unless chess counted as one.

"Here comes the ball, Aelita! Go on, hit it!" Another voice altered her.

Aelita's heart jumped. She ducked down with her hands above her head as the ball flew above her head and into the net. She could hear cheers from the boys and groans from the girls.

"It's okay, Aelita! You did your best!" Ms. Keningston tried to make the scenario less embarrassing for her.

"Time to hit the showers, everyone!" Jim blew his whistle. One boy with a purple diamond in his hair held the ball close to his hip as he was chatting it up with his friends.

Aelita was met with glares from the rest of the girls. They all went ahead towards the girl's locker room in a hurry.

"Thanks a lot, Aelita..." "Why did Ms. Keningston have to make _her_ part of the team?" "Great, we lost _again_..." Were just some of the comments Aelita overheard.

One girl didn't bother to apologize when she ran into the pinkette. The last girl who seemingly had it in for her the most, Elizabeth "Sissi" Delmas glared at her with cold brown eyes and whispered to her icily. " _You suck_."

Sissi, acting as though nothing happened, caught up to Laura Gauthier and Sorya Abulabbas. Aelita wondered if those two girls were just as aware of Sissi's two faced nature as she was. With her being the principal's daughter, she could practically get away with murder if she felt like it. Aelita managed to catch a quick glimpse of the boy's team goalie. He gave her a reassuring smile before going off on his own business. This made Aelita smile as well, feeling at least somewhat wanted here.

"Get a move on, Stones!" Ms. Keningston called out to her lone student. Aelita ran into the building like a speeding bullet to avoid any more trouble.

The locker room was filled with gossip and steam from the showers. There were only a few girls left in the showers, each of them sharing various plans and other news going on.

"-she didn't even _ask_ me if she could have it-"

"-I'm so going to kill him for that-"

"-so anyways, what's with you and Ulrich?"

"No way! Congratulations!"

Aelita, the last one to get in, felt everyone's words and her own worries go down the drain. The water was warm enough to relax her, but not hot enough that it would boil one's skin. Even though she wasn't particularly great at it, Aelita loved to swim. Being in the showers made her feel like she was in the ocean. The water felt much more relaxing than usual today.

Something, somehow must have spooked her and caused her to drop her bar soap. Before she grabbed it off the tiled floor, Aelita saw something strange. Her bar had turned red. Aelita's breathing deepened. She felt that something was moving inside her. She brought both her hands up. The same color was on her palms and inside her legs. Her heart was beating faster. What was happening to her body? There was only one thing she could assume: death.

"Help me! Help, me please!"

Aelita rushed out of the shower towards the other girls. Much to everyone's annoyance and squeamishness, Aelita had touched the girls with her blood soaked hands. "Help!"

"Hey! You ruined my shirt!" Laura scolded the pinkette, her red hand-print visible on her white blouse.

"Oh my God.. that's period blood!" Sissi made the connection.

"Please, please!" Aelita continued to beg.

"Calm down, Aelita," Sissi nonchalantly brought the hysterical girl a tampon. "Just plug it up."

However, this didn't seem to help at all. If anything, this just made her even more nervous.

"Come on! Plug it up!" One girl said.

"Yeah, Aelita! Plug it up!" Another girl joined in, this time throwing a pad.

"Plug it up!" A giggling voice continued.

Sissi walked over to a metal container attached to the wall. She opened the door and grabbed a handful of sanitary products. "Plug it up!"

The other girls began to follow her lead, her words now an ominous chant.

"Plug it up! Plug it up! Plug it up! Plug it up! Plug it up!"

Even Laura found herself in the madness. In her mind, it wasn't anything serious. Just some playful teasing. She took some pads and tampons and threw them like there was no tomorrow. Aelita found herself being backed into the same stall she came out of.

One of the girls witnessed the commotion inside and rushed out to tell the other girls who were starting to leave. She waved to them to come closer so nobody else would hear them.

"Aelita's riding the red river," Magali said with a huge grin on her face. "And she is _freaking out_."

The girls looked at each other and knew that this was something that they had to see. Meanwhile, Aelita was still in a panicked frenzy. When the other girls poured in, they began to join in like mindless drones.

"Plug it up! Plug it up! Plug it up! Plug it up! Plug it up!"

Aelita tried to swipe them all away. Little did she or anyone else know, with every product that came flying, all of them slowly inched away from her. The steam from the water made the other girls look like phantoms. Aelita was begging for the torment to stop, hoping for something, _anything_ , to end it all.

"Hey, hey! What's going on here?!" Ms. Keningston burst into the locker room, her voice going unnoticed with the ongoing chant. As she continued to get to the source, the voices in the back began to quiet down. That didn't stop the majority from continuing.

" **KNOCK IT OFF!** ALL OF YOU!" Ms. Keningston exploded. The girls immediately stopped and made a hole for her to pass through. That's when she saw Aelita Stones huddled into the tiled corner of a shower stall with sanitary items strewn around her. Ms. Keningston knelt down to her and tried to diffuse the stress.

"Aelita, honey, tell me what happened." Ms. Keningston tried to get through to her. She was a hyperventilating and screeching mess. Aelita shook her head repeatedly and grabbed Ms. Keningston's pants, leaving a dark stain. "Honey, just take a deep breath... Aelita, calm down! _Aelita_! **_AELITA_**!"

At the exact same moment she was slapped, half of the lights in the locker room went out. This was followed by some startled yelps by the girls. Even their teacher was looking up. Everyone could feel the room get instantly colder. They looked up at the ceiling and huddled among each other. Aelita's frantic moans turned into soft crying. Ms. Keningston allowed Aelita to bury her head into her stomach.

Ms. Keningston glared at the girls. "Well? What are you waiting for? Show's over, get out of here!"

The group slowly exited the locker room, some looking back at Aelita with grins and giggles. Laura was the last to leave, feeling guilty for not showing some restraint as she looked back at the pink haired girl. Sissi, on the other hand, was still grinning from ear to ear.

"See? They're all gone." Ms. Keningston's voice became more soothing to the ears. She wrapped the girl up in a large clean towel. "Everything's gonna be okay."

"Am I... Am I dying?" Aelita shakily asked her teacher, the tears beginning to cease.

Ms. Keningston was confused. Doesn't she already know? All she could do at the moment was guide Aelita into a calmer state of mind.


	2. 2- A Woman Now

"And are you absolutely sure that my daughter was involved?" Principal Delmas questioned one of his most trusted faculty members.

"Of course she was, Jean-Pierre! Who else could it have been?" Rachel Keningston responded.

The administration building was mercifully empty. Aelita Stones sat in the room next to the principal's office while secretary Nicole Weber typed away endlessly. Aelita had calmed down since the earlier incident, but still just wanted to run away. She attempted to listen in on the conversation in the other room.

"I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it." Mr. Delmas tried to diffuse her frustration. "Kids her age play pranks on each other all the time."

"Prank?" Rachel was taken aback. "Jean-Pierre, Aelita thought she was bleeding to death for Pete's sake! And your daughter was the ringleader!"

"But doesn't it seem unusual to you that a girl of Anabelle's age wouldn't know about... you know?" Mr. Delmas wondered.

"Aelita." Rachel corrected. "But it isn't too surprising. I mean, have you seen who she has to live with? It's no wonder she doesn't have a clue. Look, the point is that your daughter was among those responsible for what happened. You can't keep excusing Elizabeth's actions forever."

Mr. Delmas sighed and wiped off his forehead with a handkerchief. He knew she was right, but he wasn't ready to come to grips with that. He pressed a button on his desk and talked into the microphone. "Miss Weber, can you please send in Annie Straughn?"

"Aelita Stones." Rachel stated.

The wooden door on the right side opened, and Aelita was gripping her belongings close to her body. Her eyes darted between the principal and her teacher.

"Aelita, I am so sorry about earlier." Ms. Keningston extended her hand to comfort the girl. "I didn't know what was going on and I definitely should have handled the situation better."

This only made Aelita flinch away from her teacher. Ms. Keningston lowered her arm as she got back into her seat. Aelita sat beside her, bag slung across her shoulder and head looking down at her feet.

Mr. Delmas cleared his throat. "After talking things out a bit, we figured it'd be best to... let you take the rest of the day off. To take care of yourself."

"And Aelita?" Ms. Keningston looked at her. Aelita slowly turned her head. "You're free from gym class all next week. Just take study hall in the library, okay?"

Aelita nodded. Her eyes felt compelled to gaze toward Delmas' computer screen. She noticed that the screen flickered slightly. Aelita tried not to think too much of it.

"I'll have Miss Weber give you a slip, Ayla."

"It's Aelita..." She corrected him quietly, gripping the sides of her chair.

Miss Weber walked in and placed a yellow note on the desk. Aelita gently pressed her fingertips against the edges of the paper.

"Do you want me to call you a cab, Amanda?" Mr. Delmas asked.

"I'm sure she can walk." Rachel reassured.

Aelita asked herself why her name was so hard to pronounce for him. Either he was doing it out of malice or he was just not that bright. Aelita once again looked at the computer screeen. The flickering was more persistent this time, and now there was an error window.

"We are all very sorry about what happened, Arlena."

"IT'S AELITA!" She shouted as she sprung up from her seat. At that very same moment, the light-bulb on Delmas' desk blew out and his computer suddenly turned off. As the two faculty members tried to rationalize what was going on, Aelita excused herself from the room. She didn't even bother to take the slip that was given to her.

The cool air of the upcoming seasonal change brushed against Aelita's cheeks. Only a few students were roaming the open campus when Aelita started walking home, two of whom being Yumi and Hiroki Ishiyama. Yumi And Aelita weren't really friends, but knew enough about each other to make their own assessments. Aelita passed the two when she exited through the main gate.

The second Hiroki saw her, a mischievous smile her on his face.

"Creepy 'Lita! Creepy 'Lita!" The boy called out to her.

"Hiroki, stop it!" Yumi reprimanded him. Aelita's flight response turned to annoyance. A stoplight was swinging just above them.

Hiroki decided ded to take things up a notch. He ran up closer to the pinkette and followed closely behind. Yumi demanded that he stop, but he wouldn't listen. When he thought for sure she was off her guard, Hiroki ran up to her and yelled in her face.

"Creepy 'Lita! Creepy 'Lita!"

Aelita glared at him. The stoplight broke off from his hinges and fell right in between the two of them. Hiroki backed away immediately while Aelita stayed where she was. Hiroki fell to the ground when he tripped. All Aelita was thinking was 'Stop talking you stupid brat'.

Yumi ran ran over to her little brother to see if he was okay. When Aelita realized what just happened, she knew that something wasn't right. She looked up at the pole and back down to the smashed lightstop that was still spilling out electricity. The two girls shared eye contact, and just before the older girl could kitter a single word, Aelita started running for home. Yumi continued to observe her, realizing that there is more to this girl than just a few rumors.

The Hermitage was empty in both senses of the word. There was hardly any decoration to be seen from the outside save for the colorful garden, and the inside wasn't much different. Waldo was never the type for self expression, and he made sure his daughter knew that. If it wasn't educational or related to technology in some way, it wasn't allowed to be plastered on the walls in Aelita's room. The only thing in the way of decoration was a poster of Nikola Tesla above her desk.

Aelita had hidden a stash of magazines and CDs in a box in her closet. They were mostly fashion and pop culture reads, but she also occasionally dabbled in comics. She had recently started collecting them after being singled out by Sissi a few weeks before for not knowing who a certain famous actress was. Aelita took one out at random along with a Subdigitals record. In case her father were to come in, she could pretend that she was studying.

When her father or her classmates weren't around, that's when she felt the most free. She wasn't judged or ridiculed, she was just in her own little world. Normally, she would pretend she was one of the popular kids, but she couldn't take her mind off the smaller details of the day.

First, there were the lights in the locker room. Then, the lightbulb and computer in Mr. Delmas' office. Now, more recently, the stoplight above the sidewalk. Aelita felt a pattern was in place here, but what that was had yet to be discovered. Was she the one doing all of this?

"Aelita!" Waldo's voice rang from downstairs. The door almost slammed behind him.

Aelita had almost completely changed when he got home. She quickly threw on a cream sweater to go along with her dark skirt. Aelita hid her belongings once more and prepared herself to face her father. She quickly brushed her hair and walked out of her room.

"Coming, Daddy!" Aelita announced. She walked down the stairs and looked for him. She was finally able to find him sitting in the kitchen. "Did you need me for something?"

"I heard you ran into a little incident at school today." Waldo stated coldly before taking a sip of coffee.

Aelita nodded as she slowly entered.

"You're a woman now." Waldo said ominously.

"Daddy, why didn't you tell me?" Aelita sat down across from him at the table. "The other girls laughed and threw things at me! Why didn't you tell me this would happen?"

"A virus." She heard him whisper.

"No, Daddy, it's not a virus!" Aelita grew more desperate for answers. "It's something that every woman goes through! Why didn't you say anything to me, Daddy?!."

"The program isn't ready yet; YOU are not ready yet." Waldo continued to deflect her questioning. "Now this is just going to throw a wrench in the whole thing."

"Daddy, stop it! Not everything has to be about machines a-and algorithms! Sometimes life is just organic!" Aelita exclaimed. She tried her hardest to get through to him, but so far nothing was working.

Waldo finally looked at her after staring off into space. The silence between them had become so deafening, Aelita could hear her own thoughts again. He got up from his chair and looked down at his daughter.

"Go inside the supercomputer."

Aelita's eyes widened. The mere mention of that contraption was enough to send a shiver down her spine. She shook her head in fear. "No..."

"Aelita, you will do as I say this instant!" Waldo walked closer to her.

"No!" Aelita shook her head faster. Waldo grabbed her wrists and began to drag her down across the hall and down into the basement. Aelita thrashed and turned in every which way, but her father was much stronger than her. "NO! NO! Daddy, let me go!"

Waldo wasn't listening. He had completely shut out her screams as he brought her closer to his secret room. He forced Aelita down the stairs as her ankles hit the cement. Tears began to roll down her face as she continued to protest. Aelita wasn't letting up, but Waldo didn't care. He just kept on mumbling nonsense to himself.

"Now if we can just make sure XANA is still working..."

"Daddy, no!" Aelita's hands began to bruise.

There was only a single scanner and a computer with three monitors. The walls and floor were littered with wires of all different shapes and sizes. As she was forced closer to the scanner, her screams only grew louder.

"You suck, Dad!"

Waldo breathed in sharply. He threw his daughter into the scanner without a care. The doors outside immediately shut. Waldo had installed a system where the scanners had to be open or shut using the supercomputer. Aelita beat her hands and kicked the inner walls of the tube.

"Now we can see what the real problem is." Waldo cracked his knuckles and typed furiously. Aelita's screaming ceased when she was finally virtualized.


	3. 3- Drill Sergeant Keningston

It was the calm before the storm. It was a regular day at Kadic Academy for the girls in gym class. Aelita peeped in through the glass window. Thankfully, she only had to do study hall this week instead of gym due to some less than stellar circumstances. She looked at the girls who made her day a living Hell last week. She could only hope that Ms. Rachel Keningston knew what she was doing. When the bell rang, she became startled and scuttled off to the library.

"Alright, role call ladies!" Ms. Keningston held a clipboard close to her chest. She alternated between looking at the sheet on the board and to the girls. Aelita peeped in through the glass window briefly before scurrying off to the library. "LeDuc?"

"Here!"

"Grandjean? Florenceau?"

"Here."

"Delmas? N'Guyen? De Vasseur?"

"Here!"

"Girard? Klinger? Gauthier?"

"Present."

"Zlicaric? Abulabbus? Ugrup?"

"Here!"

"And Le Bihan?"

"Here!"

Once Ms. Keningston got through the female roster, save for Stones, she put the clipboard at her side. "Okay, line up. Well, what are you waiting for? Line up! Move it!"

The girls scattered to the center of the gymnasium. When Ms. Rachel Keningston raised her voice, that's when the girls knew that she meant business. The girls all stood in two rows waiting for the teacher's next command. She was probably going to make them play more football or some other outdoor sport like they had last week. Any remaining chatter that lingered had dissipated when Keningston came up to them, not with a clipboard, but with a duffel bag draped over one shoulder. Her demeanor even changed as well. Initially, she was cold and had no time for nonsense. But here, it seems as though something is taking control of her. She was even wearing a smile. The girls in the class didn't know what this meant, but they were glad that they most likely weren't getting lectured today.

"Well..." Keningston paced up front, back and forth between ends of the formation. "Aren't you a bunch of lovely young ladies?"

The girls looked to each other, then back to the teacher, then back to the teacher. Was she being serious? They were flattered, yes, but also confused.

"You all excited about the prom coming up?" Keningston asked lightheartedly. "I bet even some of you even have your gowns and dates prepared."

The girls couldn't help but smile. There was whispering unfolding once again, but Keningston either didn't care enough to end it or had something up her sleeve.

"Sophie!" Keningston called on one of the students. "Who's taking you?"

"Alexander Pipin." Sophie Florenceau blushed as others giggled.

Keningston smiled warmly. She had her eyes set on another student now. "Laura! Who are you going with?"

"Ulrich Stern."

This time it was a nod. Last, but not least, there was Sissi. Now she was starting to grow suspicious. "Elizabeth Delmas..."

"Yes?" Sissi asked.

"I imagine that you can take your pick. Who's the lucky guy?" Keningston got closer.

"William Dunbar."

"I'm sorry, who?" Keningston pretended not to hear her.

"William Dunbar!" Sissi exclaimed.

"Now isn't he the lucky one?" Keningston felt like he was a little too old for the principal's daughter, but she didn't bother to press on that matter. Sissi could feel a sinister air grow around them when Keningston said that line. She walked away from Sissi and headed back to the center of the front.

"Hey, I have an idea." Keningston clapped her hands together, her bag shuffling. "Why don't we skip football for today?"

"Yeah!" One voice chirped up. The others nodded in agreement. They all liked where this was going so far.

"I was thinking we could make boutineers for your dates instead." The confusion rattled up once more. The girls anticipated to see what was in the bag their teacher was carrying. Keningston opened up the large zipper on top of the black duffel bag. "Here... you can make one of THESE!"

Before the girls could react to what was happening, Ms. Keningston threw a full bag of untouched sanitary items at the girls. Light screams were heard and jumps occurred. The small class scattered to try and get away from what was perceived to be little grenades. Ms. Keningston aggressively threw the bag more and more until the contents inside were emptied out on the floor. Her stern demeanor was back again, and they were all afraid. All except one.

"I'm out of here..."

Just before Sissi could leave, Keningston roared.

"You aren't going anywhere, Delmas!" Sissi reluctantly, and rather defiantly, went back to her spot.

"You can't do that to us! Wait until my father hears about this!"

"I don't really care about what he has to say right now, Delmas!" Sissi grew silent. "If any of you think I'm playing games here, you are ALL sadly mistaken."

Apparently one girl thought the whole debacle was funny. The other girls could hear her feet stomping towards her. With an unwelcoming tone, the teacher said "Wipe that smirk off your face, Magali."

The red haired girl's smile left as soon as Keningston opened her mouth. She could now hear the very subtle sound of a bubble popping. She went to the back row to find the source of the noise. "And you. Spit out that gum."

"But where do I even put it?" Sorya inquired half sarcastically. "There isn't even a trash can."

Keningston got up in Sorya's face. "You can choke on it for all I care. Just get it out of your mouth."

This promped Sorya to put the used wad of chewing gum behind her ear. Now the whole gymnasium was back to inhabiting complete dead air. All the girls were scared about what was going to happen next, even Laura Gauthier. Then it started to click for her why she was doing this. Keningston went back to pacing, her piercing brown eyes containing small flames.

"I want you all to know that the stunt you pulled last week was a really shitty thing." The only sound that occupied the air was the sound of Keningston's workout shoes hitting the floor. "Did any of you stop to think that Aelita Stones could have feelings, too? Do any of you ever stop to think at all? Judging by recent events... I doubt it."

Guilt was setting in for most of the girls. Whether or not that was due to them being caught or out of having genuine remorse was up for debate. They all eyed each other in shame. At the time, especially not either Laura or Sissi, thought it was that serious at the time. They tried to justify it internally at first by saying they were just having a bit of fun. It seemed as though only Laura was starting to learn something between the two.

"Is it because you think she's ugly?" Keningston eyed the girls. "Well, if that's the case... I think you're all ugly."

"You can't talk to us like that! Need I remind you that my father's the-" Sissi spoke out again.

"SHUT UP!" Keningston poked a finger between her eyes. "Open your mouth one more goddamn time and I'm gonna plug you up."

The other girls were getting upset at Sissi now. She wondered how long her little act of defiance was going to last.

"Now, my original punishment for all of you was five months suspension and refusal of your prom tickets." Keningston turned her back on the girls. The girls gasped and whispered 'no' among each other. "

"However..." Keningston turned back around. "There were some disagreements regarding what to do with you. So Principal Delmas and I agreed to meet each other half way. You will all be getting only two and a half months of detention."

The breathing between the girls drifted between light and heavy. This certainty wasn't helping to bring any calm to the storm.

"BUT... It's going to be my detention." Keningston continued. "Every day, for fifty minutes after classes, out on the track. And I am going to run. You. Ragged."

"I'm not going to come, then." Sissi crossed her arms.

"Well, that's up to you, Delmas. That's up to all of you. But if any of you skips detention, that means you get suspended and you're not going to prom. Capiche?" The girls nervously gulped and nodded. "Good. Now change up."

/

"ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR! ONE, TWO THREE FOUR! ONE, TWO, THREE FOUR!" Keningston set the pace at the school's track. "KEEP MOVING, LADIES!"

Ms. Keningston started off with having the girls do a set of jumping jacks, followed by a set of squats, sit ups, and push ups. After those sets were complete, the girls were required to do two more. After the first ten minutes, half the girls felt like giving up. But since their prom night was on the line, they simply chose to put up with it. Sissi, on the other hand, appeared to be whining the whole time.

"KEEP YOUR KNEES UP! Ms. Keningston reminded them. They were only on the third lap, but it was proving to be a daunting task.

"This is bull!" Sissi yelled out of frustration.

"That's it! Thanks to Delmas, you're now running three miles!" Keningston moved the goal post. The others groaned in anger. "During all this, I want you to picture yourself in Aelita Stones' shoes! Think about how you all would feel if you were given the same treatment!"

Another four laps passed by and Sissi couldn't take it any more.

"She... can't... do this to us." Sissi panted heavily. "This is all... that Aelita girl's fault..."

"Just... let it... go, Sissi. We're... almost done." Laura ran right beside her.

Sissi formed a scowl and stopped running. The other girls inched farther away from her before stopping themselves to watch the spectacle. "Like hell I will."

Keningston instantly saw Sissi's little stunt. "Keep moving, Delmas! Do you want to go to prom or not?"

"Shove it!" Sissi yelled.

"...What?"

"I'm not... going to run... another step... because Aelita Stones was too stupid to know what her period was!" Sissi got progressively more agitated.

"Well, if you're going to behave that way, then you're out of prom AND my class." Keningston coolly said.

"No! This is bullshit!" Sissi looked back to her classmates and went closer to us. "She can't do this to us! Jeanne, you have a heart condition, right? You could die! If we all stick together, there's no way they're gonna kick us all out of prom! There wouldn't be a prom without us! Right, Sorya?"

Sorya bit her lower lip and eyed everyone else.

"Magali? Claire?" The former shook her head.

"Laura!?" Sissi turned to her last line of defense. "Come on, say something!"

"Shut up, Sissi." Laura had finally gotten fed up of her antics and said what everyone else wanted to say to her. "Just shut up."

Everyone could now feel Sissi's blood boil. Tears were forming and her hands were shaking. She screamed out loud and started stomping away from the class. "This isn't over! This isn't over by a long shot!"

"Goodbye, Delmas." The teacher pretended to sound threatened. "Well, what are the rest of you standing around for? Let's move it!"

By the time Sissi left and that their detention time was over, Laura only hoped that she did the right thing by telling her off. However, there was still something that she had to do if she wanted to truly be rid of this guilt she felt inside.


	4. 4- An Independent Study

By all accounts, Lyoko should be regarded as a pioneer paradise. Initially intended to be part of a separate project Waldo Schaeffer was working on, Lyoko is now used as a testing ground for other endeavors. Once he had the money and proper technology, he wanted to expand the virtual world and make it more inhabitable. If anyone else were to judge it, they'd say it was heaven on Earth.

But for Aelita, it was a prison. A barren wasteland with barely any life to speak of. So far, only two sectors were made, and neither of them felt inviting. Whether it be the arid desert or the maze like forest, she felt very much trapped and alone. Whenever she found herself on Lyoko, she would find a specific pool of water in the Forest Sector next to one of the white towers that took residence there. It was one of the few traces of beauty she could find here.

"Hello, Aelita." A soothing, yet mysterious voice pierced through the silence. The voice had taken the form of a black and red electrical sphere that was headed closer to her. This was the program known as XANA, something that Waldo had created long before Aelita was born.

Aelita looked up and saw the program come to her. Like a moth to a flame, Aelita was drawn to him.

"XANA...!" Aelita came closer to him.

"There is something wrong." XANA noticed in her shaky voice. "What happened to you?"

Aelita lowered her hand and bit her lip. "I... I started my cycle today. B-but I didn't know... the other girls started laughing at me and... they all threw things... Oh, XANA, it was horrible!"

"It sounds like it was, my dear." XANA tried to comfort her the best he could. "But this should come naturally to you humans, is it not?"

"Y-yes but... Daddy didn't tell me anything." Aelita confessed. She continued to confide in XANA about everything that happened that day.

"I'm so sorry, Aelita... if I had more power in me, I would set those people straight." XANA's voice began to harden.

Aelita shook her head. "That would have only made the problem worse. Besides, you're probably not that important to lose. It's a miracle that Daddy hasn't deleted you yet."

"Your existence in of itself is a miracle." XANA circled around her. "Waldo thought he was going to lose you."

Aelita wiped away a stray tear. "He did?"

"Why, yes. I was certain that he told you everything by now." XANA responded.

Aelita didn't understand what he meant. "No... what are you saying?"

"Aelita."

Aelita instinctively looked up into the never ending abyss. "Yes, Daddy?"

"I am now going to bring you back to Earth. Stay right where you are."

"I suppose this is goodbye for now..." XANA sounded upset by the girl's departure.

"But, wait! XANA! What were you going to tell me?" Aelita begged as she felt her body disintegrate.

"I'll tell you when we have more time alone." XANA cryptically relayed to her.

Aelita could only nod. "Goodbye, XANA..."

/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aelita felt a cool wind brush against her skin when the doors of the scanners opened up. She stumbled a little bit coming out, and found her father still sitting completely still at the main computer. Unlike earlier, he wasn't ready to pounce on her for any kind of error she made. His demeanor now is calm, almost _too_ calm. Before he could try to do anything, the girl thought it would be best to remove herself from his presence immediately.

"I'm going to my room now." Aelita cleared her throat.

"Uh-huh.." Waldo continued staring at his screen.

Before Aelita exited the basement, she slowly walked up to her father and gave him a hug. "Goodnight, Daddy..."

Stiff at first, Waldo eventually warmed up to his daughter's embrace. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

Aelita grinned gently and closed the door behind her. Once she was out of the room, she bolted upstairs into her room, making sure to not make too much noise. Aelita made extra sure to keep her door locked tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The library was mostly barren the following Monday. With only one teacher and two other students inside, it was quiet enough for a gentle breeze to be heard.

Aelita still couldn't get the words that XANA told her out of her head. More specifically, one word: miracle. She didn't think she was anything particularly special, but at least in that moment she felt like she was. She wanted to know why in particular she was seen as one. She whispered the word to herself while touching the spines of various books.

"Miracle..."

She finally found a dictionary. It was a newer edition, so Aelita knew that she would be getting some reliable information. She turned to the "M" section and began searching for the word, "miracle."

" _mir·a·cle  
/mirək(ə)l/  
noun_

 _1\. A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency._ "  
" _The miracle of rising from the grave._ "

This felt more like a non-answer to the girl. She decided to check the other meanings of the word.

"2. _A highly improbable or extraordinary event, development, or accomplishment that brings very welcome consequences._ "  
" _It was a miracle that more people hadn't been killed or injured._ "

This definition was closer, but that wasn't really saying much in the grand scheme of things. 

"3. An amazing product or achievement, or an outstanding example of something.""

" _A machine which was a miracle of design_."

Then Aelita's thoughts began to drift to another theory: was she part machine? Considering how she's been completely left in the dark about her mother and her father's projects, it was a possibility that didn't feel real. But out of a sort of curious urge, she flipped the pages to find that exact word.

" _ma·chine  
/məˈSHēn/  
noun_

 _1\. An apparatus using or applying mechanical power and having several parts, each with a definite function and together performing a particular task._ "  
" _A fax machine._ "

From this definition, it was clear that Aelita was not a machine. But she knew that something made her different from everyone else within the confines of Kadic Academy. That's when Aelita remembered the lights going out during Saturday's shower incident. Then afterwards, there was the light bulb and computer in Principal Delmas' office. By all accounts, those could simply be written off as pure coincidence. But there was the event in which the stoplight fell straight down onto the sidewalk.

That alone couldn't be explained by coincidence. At the moment she wished for something to happen to Hiroki, it came crashing down. There had to be something more at play here. Was it fate? Willpower? Power? Power.

" _pow·er  
/pou(ə)r/  
noun_

 _1\. the ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality._ "  
" _The power of speech._ "

 _2\. The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events._ "  
" _The idea that men should have power over women._ "

" _Synonyms: ability, capacity, capability, potential, faculty, competence._ "

Now this felt much more accurate. She wondered what would come up if she looked for 'ability' in this book.

" _Possession of the means or skill to do something._ "

As she began to get pulled in more, she began picking up books relating to the words she was finding.

" _Possession-_

 _The state of having, owning, or controlling something._

 _The state of being controlled by a demon or spirit._ "

Was Aelita being controlled? Or was she the one doing the controlling? It was too early to tell now, but with some more digging she hoped she could find the answers she needed the longer she snooped around. Aelita eventually found herself skimming through the pages of an old book detailing old myths and superstitions. In that very book was the definition that put her to a stop.

" _Telekinesis is more commonly known as the ability to move objects or other living organisms with the power of one's own mind._ "

Were all those instances examples of telekinesis? Aelita thought it through again, but then decided that couldn't be right. Telekinesis would imply most everything she saw would have some motion.

While Aelita's attention was occupied to her literature, Yumi Ishiyama walked into the library in order to find some books for an upcoming class project. She didn't notice the pinkette was in the same room until she went over to the back section. Yumi could still remember when her Hiroki's life was nearly stripped of him. Did Aelita truly mean to harm him that day? She couldn't even harm a fly, let alone another human being. But there was something about her that Yumi was drawn to, a suspicion that she couldn't comprehend. If she wanted to put that to rest, she had to take the initiative.

Yumi looked over her shoulder before greeting the younger student. "Hi, Aelita."

Aelita jumped a little bit, almost dropping her pencil in the process. Luckily, Yumi was able to catch it in time and give it back to her.

"H-Hey." Aelita put the pencil behind her ear.

"So, uh..." Yumi looked at the stack of books Aelita was carrying. "What 'cha reading?"

"Oh, um, it's about... uh..." Aelita tried to come up with an answer that didn't seem suspicious. "Sewing."

"Cool." Yumi nodded. "Hey, do you mind if I hung out with you for a bit? I totally get it if you want to be left alone, though."

Aelita shook her head. "I don't mind."

Yumi nodded, continuing to search for the books she needed while following Aelita around.

"I heard about what happened last week." Yumi tried to carefully segue in to last Saturday's events.

Aelita's cheeks began to burn red with embarrassment. She gripped the books she had even tighter. "Oh no... does everybody know?"

"Not everyone, thank God." Yumi reassured her. Though she couldn't really bet on that being the case for much longer, she didn't want to dwell on that now. "But I know how you feel."

Aelita stopped walking and looked up at her. "Y-you do?"

"Yeah, except I got mine inside the swimming pool." Yumi couldn't believe she was admitting this, but she figured it would help ease the embarrassment, even if it was by a small amount.

Aelita's eyes widened, mainly out of concern for the upperclassman. "I can't even begin to imagine what that must have been like..."

"I can say the same for you." Yumi replied. "From that day on, I never wore a single shred of white again."

Aelita giggled and Yumi smiled, only to be followed by a sharp "SHHH!" echoing across the room. The two moved back down to a moderate whisper.

"My point is that everyone has had at least one really bad puberty moment. It doesn't do anyone any good by dwelling on it." Yumi put a hand on Aelita's shoulder.

"But what about Sissi?" Aelita was still distressed.

"Knowing her, she'll probably move on to whatever thing happens to come next." Yumi shrugged. "Most of the people that do know will likely forget soon anyway."

"Thanks, Yumi." Aelita smiled warmly.

"Not a problem." Yumi finally found a book to use. "And if you ever need anything from me, don't be afraid to ask, okay?"

Aelita glanced at the computers as Yumi began walking towards them. She gulped and shook her head to get her out of her thoughts.

"Yumi?" Aelita found the strength to talk again. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, anything."

"Can you show me how to do an Internet search?" Aelita's voice quieted, her blush being a faint rose color.

Yumi couldn't help but chuckle. A girl of Aelita's brains being unable to operate a computer was both funny and endearing. She began leading the pinkette to the computer section. "Well, you've come to the right person. It's really easy."

Aelita smiled in relief. At least now, she could get things done much faster. During all of this, Aelita may have just possibly found something she also needed: a friend.

/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Practice for the boy's football team was just about to come to a close. Mr. Morales was currently scolding one boy for making a foul move on the field. Atop the bleachers, Laura Gauthier sat with her bag on her lap and elbows on top as her palms acted as a cushion for her chin. The only person she had her eyes on was Ulrich Stern, the team's captain. Even with everything that's happened so far, Laura considered herself lucky to be his girlfriend. She admitted to having feelings for him even when he was previously taken, but never imagined that fate would throw her a bone like this. With most of her friends disowning her after standing up to the Queen Bee of Kadic, she knew that she could at least take some solace in him.

Mr. Morales blew his whistle. "That's enough practice for today!"

As soon as those words escaped his mouth, Laura rushed down to the field to meet up with Ulrich.

"Hey!" Ulrich greeted Laura and pulled her into a side hug.

Laura returned the hug with a kiss on the cheek. "I need to talk to you."

Ulrich raised an eyebrow. "What about?"

Laura looked around and lead Ulrich towards the top of the bleachers. She wanted to avoid as much of the noise and watchful eyes from the other players. The only person she wanted to listen was the Stern boy. Ulrich was still confused about why Laura had isolated them from everyone else. A part of him was fearing the worst, much like with how Yumi Ishiyama ended things with him.

"Ulrich..."

"Yes?"

Laura paused. "If I asked you to do something for me, would you do it? No matter how crazy it sounded?"

"Yeah, I would." Ulrich shrugged. "Unless you're talking about cold blooded murder or something. What is it?"

Laura looked around her before whispering into his ear. Ulrich's eyes widened.

"Are you out of your mind!?"

"Ulrich, please! It'll really make Aelita happy if you took her instead." Laura set her hand on top of his.

"Yeah, but this is your prom too." Ulrich tried convincing her. "I don't want you to miss out on any of the fun to make someone else feel better."

"Well, what do you want me to do then?" Laura replied exhaustively. "I have to do something for her to make up for... you know..."

"Look, Laura. I understand why you want me to do this. But I already told you, I'm not taking her to prom." Ulrich sighed. Laura lowered her head in defeat.

"But I _do_ know someone that will."

Laura looked back up at him and smiled. "Well? Who is it?"


End file.
